STARKVILLE — Turkey season opens Tuesday in Mississippi, but in Starkville duck season is already well under way.

Junior right-hander Austin Sexton struck out 12 batters in six innings, and Jacob Robson went 2-for-4 with a triple, RBI and two runs scored to lead No. 21 Mississippi State to a 9-3 victory over ninth-ranked Oregon on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (11-3-1) have taken the first two games of the weekend series with the Ducks (8-4), with the finale set for 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Mississippi State clinched its first series win against a Top-10 team since beating No. 3 Vanderbilt twice from March 21-23, 2014.

“We’ve won two games against a team really highly-thought of around the country,” Mississippi State coach John Cohen said.

Mississippi State built a 5-0 lead with five runs in the first inning, thanks to four bases-loaded walks and one bases-loaded hit batsman. Oregon (8-4) was held scoreless until the eighth inning.

Sexton allowed four hits and four walks in six innings. His 12 strikeouts were a career high. He struck out every Oregon starter at least once.

“I thought Austin was just fabulous,” Cohen said. “His change up was so good, at points he could’ve almost told the hitter what was coming and still been able to get the hitter out. His change up had that much movement, that much arm speed.”

In two games in the series, Mississippi State’s pitchers have recorded 27 strikeouts.

One of the few missteps for the team’s pitching staff was walks. Sexton walked four batters and the four relievers who followed him added three more.

Cohen said most of that stemmed from playing in wet conditions at Dudy Noble Field.

“We threw too many balls today. That happens sometimes when it’s wet,” Cohen said. “Every single time the ball touches the ground it’s got to be replaced so you’re throwing a different ball every time. Your stride foot, all that stuff is affected by it, the mud on the mound. I thought we battled pretty well through it.”

Robson had a single during the Bulldogs’ big first inning, and then led off the fourth with a triple. He scored on an error, and the Bulldogs added another run on an RBI single by Gavin Collins.

Nathaniel Lowe and Hunter Stovall each had RBI doubles in the seventh inning to push Mississippi State’s lead to 9-0.

Cody Brown finished with two hits for the Bulldogs, Stovall drove in two runs, and Lowe was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Seven Mississippi State players had at least one RBI.